


A Different Sort of Flames

by threerings



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Comfort Sex, Episode Tag, First Time, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Kissing, M/M, Mostly Pwp, Set after Episode 7, smut and feelings, the mighty nein - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-01 10:48:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13996656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threerings/pseuds/threerings
Summary: Molly helps Caleb in the wake of his bad turn in the mines.  He sets a different kind of fire under the wizard's skin.---Okay, this is just another fic in which Caleb and Molly hook up after Caleb's trauma flashback, but it's so hard to resist.  I didn't think I had a ship with these folks yet and then suddenly I was writing this and...apparently I do.





	A Different Sort of Flames

**Author's Note:**

> First fic in the fandom, woohoo!

_Flames, smoke, screams, the smell of flesh cooking, the feeling of his magic surging out from him..._

Caleb started at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder and he blinked to bring the rough wooden table in front of him back into focus. Belatedly, he swung his gaze around to look at the person on his right, seeing the colorful form of Mollymauk, who still rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Caleb, you look done in,” said Molly with a sympathetic look. “Why don’t you come upstairs and get some rest?” Caleb looked around him at his companions and the crowded tavern. It was loud, with laughter and conversation, though everyone’s faces looked tired and worn. He saw several of his group glancing at him and Molly, though they looked away quickly, too casually. Caleb sighed. He could feel Nott’s eyes on him too from where she sat to his left. Her small body was a warm comfort pressed against his side. Jester was talking to her, trying to return her attention to the sketchbook she held. 

“We can go to sleep if you want, Caleb,” said Nott in a tentative voice. The goblin didn’t look sleepy, though. Her eyes were bright and she had a plate half full of meat and a tankard of something alcoholic in front of her. 

“No, Nott,” he said finally, the words coming out rough from his dry throat. “You finish your meal and have fun.” Caleb reached for his forgotten glass and tossed back some beer to wet his throat. He flicked his eyes over to Molly. “But I think I will retire.” 

Molly’s expression broke into a wide grin, though Caleb wasn’t sure why. Molly pushed himself up, ducking his head to avoid hitting a hanging lantern with his horns as he stood. He wrapped a large hand around Caleb’s bicep and tugged him upwards. He went, finding it easier to go along at this point than to argue.

When he made it to his feet and over the long bench, he suddenly found himself face to face with the lavender tiefling, so close it made his breath catch. Because Caleb had a problem in regards to Molly: he thought he was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. From the very first moment they’d met, the extravagantly decorated man had caught his eye and caused him to feel an immediate physical desire that was unusual for him. Caleb mostly avoided social entanglements, including romantic ones. It hadn’t always been that way, but lately it had been easier and safer to hide behind his dirty appearance. Only Molly had made him regret that strategy, and his presence had awakened feelings Caleb had thought gone for good. 

So now, even through his exhaustion and the haze of horrific memory that had sat on him since the death of the wizard in the mines, standing only inches from the object of his desire, his hand on Caleb’s arm, made a pulse of want shoot through him. He felt his face heat and he looked away quickly. He thought Molly’s hand tightened a fraction, but then it fell away and instead there was an arm slung around his shoulders.

“Come on,” Molly said brightly. “Let’s get you to bed.” Caleb waved vaguely in response to the chorus of voices calling good night to them, and let himself be steered in the direction of the stairs. He didn’t have the energy to protest that he didn’t need an escort, or any help to walk. He wasn’t intoxicated. He’d barely touched the drink. Part of him noted the irony of the situation: here was Molly taking him off to bed, a scenario that would have a far different significance in his numerous daydreams about the tiefling. He hated to think that the strongest emotion he inspired in Molly was pity, but at the same time he was hardly in a position to complain. He would have to settle for whatever he got, knowing he had no chance at what he really wanted.

They made their way to the room he and Nott would be sharing, having moved their things over earlier. Caleb stood in the middle of the small room with the single bed, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the single burning candle. 

“Let’s get this coat off,” said Molly, his hands landing heavily on his shoulders. Caleb couldn’t repress a surprised flinch away, and Molly lifted his hands as he looked back at him. “Sorry,” he said, holding his hands up apologetically. 

Caleb sighed again. “No, sorry, my fault,” he said. He shrugged out of his coat and folded it over the back of the room’s single chair. He sat down heavily on the side of the bed to take off his boots, wondering if he should take off his trousers or just sleep as he was. He looked up at Molly, wondering why he was here at all. His expression as he stood looking down on Caleb was thoughtful, attentive, and he had no idea how to take that. 

After a still moment when neither of them moved, Molly sat down next to him on the bed. “I don’t suppose you want to talk about it,” he said, voice far more serious than usual. 

Caleb looked down at his hands, clenched together in his lap. “No.”

“Yeah.” He could feel the weight of Molly’s gaze on his face. “I’ve been there, Caleb,” he said more quietly. He couldn’t help looking up in surprise. “Really, I have.” And there was something in Molly’s expression that confirmed his words. Something that wasn’t pity, but a deep empathy, a buried pain that seemed so familiar. Caleb couldn’t look away, entranced by the sad beauty of Molly’s face, the strange depth of his red eyes. “If you want to talk though, ever, I’m here.” He reached out and covered Caleb’s hands with his warmer one. The touch felt like the beginnings of a spell, like gathering magic in his hand to send out a blast of...flame. Caleb jerked his right hand back, as if he’d been burned.

“Sorry,” said Molly hastily. “Didn’t mean to...overstep.” 

But Caleb was already shaking his head and wincing. “Nein. No. That is...” He took a deep breath. “It...wasn’t you...just...a memory.” 

“Oh.” Caleb’s chest ached at the look of disappointment that Molly failed to fully conceal. Molly folded his hands back in his own lap, and he stared at them, the broad, strong palm with long, elegant fingers. The dark nails cut carefully short and round. Before he knew what he was doing, he had reached out and covered one of Molly’s hands with his own, stroking lightly down the back with a finger. 

It felt like time slowed, almost like he was in a dream. He could hear the noise of celebrating from downstairs, but it was distant, muffled. Everything around the two of them was still: silent except for the sound of his own breathing and the heavy, fast thudding of his heart. He continued to stroke the back of Molly’s hand, a repetitive motion, and it felt like he was living out one of his smuttiest fantasies. He wasn’t sure how long this went on. It felt like forever, and not long enough at all, but eventually Molly shifted, breaking the trance. He raised his other hand as he leaned closer to Caleb, slowly resting it against the side of his face.

Molly pushed some strands of hair away from his face gently, fingertips barely brushing his skin, but it still felt like as hot as flame. Caleb knew his face must be pink or red by now, and he still couldn’t look up to meet Molly’s eyes. 

“Caleb,” said Molly, and there was a lot in the single word. He couldn’t begin to name all the things he heard in the tiefling’s voice, but there was one thing that rang out loudly: entreaty. Caleb, almost as if drawn against his will, looked up, the warm hand on his face encouraging him and the touch growing firmer as he acquiesced. 

“Molly,” he said, the name slipping out before he’d known he was going to speak. 

“Yes, darling? Is there something you want from me?” Caleb’s breath caught, and he felt dizzy. _Ja, Ja, Ja._ screamed a voice deep inside him, and his mouth fell open but he couldn’t make any response. Molly leaned a little farther towards him, his thumb stroking under the line of his jaw. “Caleb? I need you to...tell me. What you want.” 

“Götter...You. I want you,” he said in a whisper, the words seemingly conjured onto his tongue. Molly let out a little breath from his smiling lips and then closed the distance between them. He pressed a careful, gentle kiss to his lips. Caleb gasped and reached for the tiefling like a drowning man. From the careful, fragile stillness of the last few minutes, he spasmed into frenzied movement, grasping desperately at Molly‘s clothing, the back of his neck, his hair. He pressed himself against the larger man, moaning hungrily into his mouth. All thought, all fear, all consideration had fled from him. He was a creature of desire, of flames burning down through his body from every point of contact with Molly. 

Thankfully, miraculously, Molly responded in kind. He kissed him hard, his tongue meeting Caleb‘s with equal force as they took turns invading each other‘s mouths. He buried his hand in Caleb‘s messy hair and tugged slightly, making him open wider and groan. Caleb had never been kissed like this: so completely, so skillfully, giving him exactly what he wanted as if Molly could read his mind. He never wanted it to stop. 

He gripped Molly‘s robes tightly and leaned back, pulling the tiefling after him until they were lying across the bed. The feeling of Molly‘s body pressed against him, covering him entirely, the press of an obvious erection into his thigh only a little below his own...if he had any coherent thought left the sensation drove it from his mind. He rutted up into Molly unabashedly, groaning at the friction on his cock while Molly gasped into his mouth. 

Molly broke away from his lips and then started mouthing at his throat, sharp teeth scraping against his stubbled skin, drawing a long moan from Caleb. His hands slid up under Molly‘s coat, feeling the strong muscles of his back through his shirt. He tugged upwards on the shirt and then reached down to feel the warm skin he‘d exposed at his lower back. 

Molly paused, pushing away from him long enough to shrug out of his heavy coat, letting the elaborately decorated item fall to the floor. He fell back on Caleb‘s mouth, his hand now sliding under his shirt, over his prominent ribs, and up to rub at one of his nipples. Caleb arched his spine, all control of his body leaving him. He felt he could only beg and react as Molly took him apart, lit him on fire inch by inch. 

“Fuck,” he groaned, driving his hips up to grind his aching cock up against Molly again. “Please, Molly.” Molly gave a low growl against his neck, where he was leaving a trail of marks down to his shoulder. He felt a full-body shudder pass through the body above him, and then Molly pushed up on his arms, lifting himself mostly free of contact with Caleb.

“Caleb,” he panted, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. “Maybe...maybe this is a bad idea.” 

“What?” was all that Caleb could manage, feeling like he’d been doused in ice water suddenly. 

Molly winced at his incredulous tone. “Not...it’s just...you’re...not in the best frame of mind, and I don’t want you to do anything you’d...regret.” Caleb just stared blankly up at him. Did Molly honestly think he could possibly _not_ want to do any and everything with him? “I don’t want to take advantage of you,” continued Molly. “Well, I mean, I _do_ , but...well, you know what I mean?” 

Caleb blinked up for a few more seconds. “ _Fuck_ , Molly,” were the only words that escaped him. He panted into the space between them, his instincts and body begging him to surge up, to grab the tiefling and pull him back down. “Look, if you...want to leave, fine, but...” 

Molly interrupted him with a shake of his head. “I don’t _want_ to, darling, but I _will._ ” Caleb shook his head helplessly. 

“If you think I haven’t been dying for this for...well since we _met_ , then...” Caleb shook his head again. “If you leave now, I think I might actually die,” he finished, voice twisting sardonically. Molly huffed a surprised laugh before he caught himself. 

“Well, I don’t want _that_ ,” he said, shifting his weight a bit more onto his knees. “Are you _sure_ though? This can wait until...”

“ _No,_ it can’t,” Caleb insisted, arching his body up and grimacing when he didn’t make contact with Molly. He reached up with his arms then, settling them solidly on either side of Molly’s waist, pausing one moment to give Molly a last chance to object, and then pulling him down, hard. 

Molly let his lower body fall once more onto Caleb with a groan. “Fuck,” he breathed against his cheek. “Okay, okay. You make a strong case.” Caleb rutted up against him wantonly, making sure they were both getting lots of friction on their erections. “Okay, Caleb.” He covered Caleb’s mouth with his own again then, much sloppier this time. His teeth caught on Caleb’s lips as they frotted together, and Caleb gasped when he tasted blood. Molly hissed, pulling back enough to frown down at his mouth. “Sorry.”

“’Salright,” Caleb insisted, a firm hand coming to the back of Molly’s head and pulling him back down. After a few more minutes of kissing and grinding, they were both breathless. Molly worked a hand down between them and squeezed Caleb’s cock through his pants. 

“Ja,” he hissed, shoving up into his hand. “Please.” Molly fumbled at the lacing of his trousers, finally loosening them enough to shove them and his smallclothes down. Then Caleb’s cock was in Molly’s burning hot hand and he was pumping him enthusiastically. Caleb clenched his jaw at the sensation, reaching blindly for the opening of the tieflings’ pants. He thought he might never get his hand on Molly’s cock, but finally managed to free him. He did his best to stroke Molly in counterpoint to the hand on his own cock. Soon they were both gasping, and in a surge of his hips, Molly brought their lengths together, the velvet slide of cock on cock amazing, Molly’s hot hand wrapping around both their shafts. 

Caleb was grateful to be able to let go, let Molly take full control, as he felt his climax approaching quickly. Very soon he felt it, shooting up and then over Molly’s hand, dribbling onto his belly. He panted and shuddered as Molly stroked the last drops from him.

“That’s it, Caleb, just like that,” he murmured. Finally Molly let his cock fall, continuing to work himself, now much faster, as Caleb watched spellbound. He saw the instant Molly’s orgasm hit, in the widening of his eyes and nostrils. Then hot come painted him again as Molly groaned a long, satisfied note. 

Caleb fell back limp against the bolster, breathing heavily, staring at the rafters above. Molly remained kneeling for a few moments between Caleb’s legs, also panting. Then the tiefling stood with a grunt of effort, making his way to the washstand and cleaning himself off before bringing a wet cloth back to the bed for Caleb. Caleb reached for it, but instead of passing it over, Molly set to work cleaning up their combined releases from Caleb’s body himself. Caleb’s heart seemed to make a strange twisting motion in his chest at this action, at the tenderness of it. He felt another surge of want, this one quite different from his earlier lust. He didn’t fully understand what he was feeling.

He watched Molly’s face intently, until the tiefling had cleaned him to his satisfaction and tossed the rag aside to stretch out next to him. Caleb turned a little towards him and found himself pulled into an embrace, Molly draping one arm and one leg over him, pulling him close and giving him no means of protest. Some instinct within him wanted to pull away, a habit of years now, but he didn’t actually wish to do so. Instead he forced himself to release the sudden tension in his muscles, letting himself fall back into the relaxed attitude brought on by his climax. 

Molly smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Then he ducked his head a bit and pressed another to his lips. Caleb found himself responding, lips opening in invitation and that was all it took to encourage Molly into a long, lazy exploration of his mouth. The intensity of their earlier kisses was gone, the desperation sated, and what was left was...comfort. Intimacy, of a kind Caleb could hardly remember from his distant past, but which felt suddenly right. 

They were both still clothed, both dirty and stinking from their battles, exhausted from the strain and for Caleb from the emotional toll his memories had extracted. None of that seemed to matter as they settled against one another, both letting their eyes close. 

“Thank you, Molly,” said Caleb softly, without opening his eyes. 

“My pleasure,” murmured Molly, smile evident in his voice. “Quite literally.” 

“You know what I mean,” he insisted.

“I do,” replied Molly more seriously. “You’re welcome. Anytime.” They fell into silence and Caleb felt himself drifting close to unconsciousness, when Molly’s voice startled him. “I should probably go, before I fall asleep here.”

Caleb considered for a moment. “You don’t have to,” he decided. “Nott won’t care.” When Molly didn’t reply or move he added, “Stay.”

“Alright. I will.” Molly sounded pleased, if very tired. He tightened his arm around Caleb and pulled him even closer. “Is this alright?” he asked, in afterthought. 

“Ja,” said Caleb softly. “It’s good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I have fallen HARD into this fandom recently, and I love everyone in this crew so much. I've just started [a new sideblog on Tumblr](http://gentlysociallypinned.tumblr.com) for this and a couple other related-ish fandoms, so please come see me over there.
> 
> I have already started a second Widomauk fic, so chances are good I'm going to be sharing more. The chances are better if I get feedback, so please leave some!


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